Aiming to improve defensively in 2024/25, Florida basketball added FAU’s Alijah Martin through the transfer portal, a 6’2, 210-pound guard who excels defensively with his athleticism and perimeter defense, which has been put on display throughout Florida’s preseason practices.
Martin had a successful four-year career at FAU with two trips to the NCAA Tournament including a final-four run in 2022/23, which made it hard to leave the school that took a chance on him out of high school.
“It was difficult, totally difficult,” Martin said on his decision to leave FAU. “Boca, they took me in, made me a man, and I wanted to finish it off there, but I feel like I did enough there at Boca, so time to spread my wings. I tried to stay at FAU, I tried to stay at FAU for a long time, even when Dusty had left. I didn’t know I was leaving until I took some visits, when I started taking visits then I realized I needed to spread my wings.”
After FAU was eliminated in the first round of the 2023/24 NCAA Tournament, head coach Dusty May took the head coaching job at Michigan. While the graduate student could have followed May to Ann Arbor, what Todd Golden offered the Mississippi native was too good to pass up.
“It was good,” Martin said on his conversations with Golden in the offseason. “Me and Todd, we clicked really fast, and what he offered me was to be me, and be able to play freely and stuff like that, just right up my alley.”
Golden also offered Martin a chance to play with the ball in his hands more often as Florida is hoping for a committee-like approach from their point guards this season.
“Yeah, that was the main, key point of me deciding on a school,” Martin said on having the opportunity to be on the ball more.
Martin has averaged between 13-14 points in each of his last three seasons, but a preseason injury in 2023 contributed to a sluggish start where his field goal percentage and three-point shooting noticeably dipped.
“It was tough,” Martin said on being limited. “If I’m not working, I feel like someone’s getting better, and I don’t like that. I like to be the one that’s getting better.”
Martin is fully healthy entering the 2024/25 season and has focused on ball handling and passing as he can expect to contribute as a facilitator this year, at least more than he’s used to.
“I’ve been heavy on ball-handling,” Martin said on what he’s been working on offensively. “Ball-handling and passing. Because I feel like I do everything else pretty good. Just sticking to what I know, what my weaknesses are.”
The three ball certainly isn’t an issue for Martin, who holds a career average of 36.9% from beyond on the arc, but what he does best is on the defensive side of the ball. Martin is a terrific on ball defender and has the athleticism to quickly close space and guard the perimeter. Martin’s steal percentage of 3.1% was the highest on FAU’s squad last season and ranked 165th Nationally.
“Just the IQ part, just being smart defensively,” Martin said on what he brings to the table defensively. “We have to eliminate the careless fouls and gambling. So if we can just be defensively smart, we’ll be straight.”
Joining a backcourt that consists of Walter Clayton, Denzel Aberdeen, Will Richard, Urban Klavzar, and Isiah Brown, Martin projects as a starter on Florida’s roster that’s deep with talent.
“There’s really no ceiling,” Martin said on Florida’s backcourt. “I can’t really give you all these expectations and feed y’all no BS, but it’s going to be the real deal.”